"RESOLVED, that the thanks of this Board be presented to Dr. Appleton for his Sermon delivered this day by appointment of the Board; that a copy be requested for publication i and Dr. Evarts, and Dr. Chapin, be a committee to accomplish the object of this resolution.” that Extract from the minutes of the Board, Sept. 18, 1817. CALVIN CHAPIN, Mr. SERMON. THE WORLD BY WISDOM KNEW NOT GOD. 1 CORINTHIANS, i. 21. WHILE We take part in the great effort, which Christians of all nations are now making, to communicate the doctrines of revelation to the Pagan world, it is obviously important to understand not only the wants of those, whom we attempt to enlighten, but to inquire what probability there is, that the necessary light will be conveyed to them from any other source. If the ignorance, in which the Pagan world is now involved, is peculiar to the present age, if it has not been universal, nor even general, among those, who lived in former times; we may hope, that the evil is temporary, and will, of itself, soon disappear. On the contrary, if darkness has, in all former ages, covered the earth, and gross darkness the people,-if, even in countries, where learning, civilization, and refinement, once exerted all their powers, religious truth has yet been shrouded in more than Egyptian darkness; it is obviously the duty of Christians to propagate, among others, the religion, which God has graciously bestowed on them, and to say among the heathen, the Lord reigneth. My principal object in this discourse is to show, that the true character of GOD is not known, except by revelation. I do not assert, it will be observed, that were men to make the best use of their intellectual powers, they would be unable, from the works of nature, to infer the existence and moral perfections of its author. The apostle has taught us to believe, that the invisible things of God may be clearly seen and understood by the things, which are made; and that, therefore, atheism, even among heathen, is without excuse. But what men may do is one thing; what they will do is another. In regard to the time, which had elapsed, when the apostle wrote, his assertion might well be received as plenary proof. In this proposition, The world by wisdom knew not Gop, reference is probably had to the investigations of philosophical men. This, however, is of little importance to our present purpose; for, while the world remains in darkness, it is immaterial by whom were made unsuccessful efforts to give it light. Mi Though the assertion of St. Paul may well be considered, agreeably to the remark already made, good proof as to that ignorance of God, which had prevailed in the heathen world, previously to the time, when the text was written, it may tend to impress these truths on our minds, should we contemplate some of those facts, on which the assertion is founded. That ancient nations worshipped a multitude of gods, is a proposition, which requires no proof to any one, in the slightest degree acquainted with the Greek and Roman historians and poets. So early as the time of HESIOD, there were reckoned thirty thousand gods, inhabiting the earth, who were subjects of Jupiter, and guardians of men. These deities were considered, as in a sense domesticated in Greece. In addition to them Archbishop POTTER* informs us, that there was a custom, which obliged them to entertain a great number of strange deities. The religion of the Greeks was probably derived from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Thrace, and was transmitted to the Romans. To ascertain what was the popular creed among the ancient heathen, I know not, that any method can be more effectual, than to consult the writings of their historians and poets. The testimony of the former can be liable to no exception. On that of the poets it may be thought, that less reliance can be placed. It is not, indeed, necessary to conclude, that the poets themselves always believed what they wrote concerning the gods. But, that they both See his Greek Antiquities. Vol. 1, 202. designed and expected, that others should believe it, there can be little doubt. "The accounts, given of the heathen gods by the poets," says the learned Mr. FARMER,* "did, in fact, constitute both the popular and civil theology: or the religion, received by the people, and estab lished by the laws. The people were more disposed to adopt the doctrine of the poets, than any physical interpretation; and regarded their write ings, as the rule both of their faith and their wor ship. Even the most absurd fables were understood literally, and received by the people with implicit faith, in Greece, as well as in other countries:?? Agreeable to this are the words of the profound Dr. CUDWORTH. "We cannot," says he, "make a better judgment concerning the generality and bulk of ancient pagans, than from the poets and mythologists, who were the chief instructers of them.?? "The poets cannot sing," says PLATO, as quoted by Dr. LELAND, "except they be full of GoD, and carried out of themselves. They do not say these things by art, but by divine power. Gonduses them, as his ministers, as divine prophets; that we, hearing them, might know, that it is GOD, who speaks by them." SOCRATES is represented by PLATO, as conversing to the same effect. 5o' • See his treatise on the worship of Hum. Spirits. + See Intellectual Syst. Also CAVE's Prim. Christ. |